


Already Ghosts

by Daxolotl



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Bruises, Choking, F/F, Fugitives, Government Conspiracy, Government Experimentation, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Minor Character Death, Murder, On the Run, Teenagers, Violence, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-16 03:53:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17542172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daxolotl/pseuds/Daxolotl
Summary: Kara's clutching her bloodstained hands together as Alex packs their bags. She's breaking down, teetering on the edge of outright panic, but Alex can't focus on that right now. Can't comfort her the way she wants to.Because there's four dead government agents lying downstairs, and keeping Kara safe is the only thing that matters now.





	1. Run

Alex rushes through the house. She knows that they probably don't have long, and that every second counts. She grabs a handful of plastic bottles from the kitchen and rushes upstairs, dropping them next to the bathroom as she passes by.

She steps into their shared bedroom, throwing down travel bags on her bed and starting to stuff clothing into them. Socks, underwear, shirts, sweaters, jeans. She throws an old hoodie in there too, just for good measure. Kara's clutching her bloodstained hands together as Alex packs their bags. She's breaking down, teetering at the edge of outright panic, but Alex can't focus on that right now. Can't comfort her the way she wants to.

Because there's four dead government agents lying downstairs, and keeping Kara safe is the only thing that matters now.

"Hey," she says, softly. Kara doesn't stir. "Kara," she tries again, slightly harder, and the girl looks up, towards her, eyes wild. Like an animal.

"Can you go to the bathroom and fill all the plastic bottles with water, then put them in your bag? Make sure the lids are tight enough they don't leak. Then pack up our toiletries, just the essentials we need, and clean your hands up. Okay?"

There's a few moments of blank silence.

"Can you do that for me, Kara? Please?"

Kara nods, stiffly, and a moment later she's gone, blinked away.

Alex looks out into the hallway. She needs to pack food. She needs to go downstairs again – to face everything that happened.

She's not sure if she'll ever really be ready to face that.

_ _ _

Alex sighs, idly clicking through her phone.

When her mom had asked her if she'd wanted a party for her seventeenth birthday, she'd said no. Obviously not. She's not five, and there's no way mom would let her have alcohol in the house to make the party any good.

But she'd expected, instead, to just spend the day going out with friends. Hang out with Vicki, chill out. Maybe even have a sleepover. That's the day she'd wanted when she said she didn't want a party.

She hadn't expected her dad to send two tickets for a luxury spa outside of town.

_"I wanted to send you three, but, uh, you know how Kara gets around nail clippers,"_ he'd said, over the phone, and Alex had laughed. Right. A manicure isn't exactly the best thing for her to try and get if she wants to keep her secret.

_"Well, I'm sure Mom'll appreciate it, even if I'll be bored out of my mind. You're sure you can't make it home?"_

Eight happy birthday texts.

_"Sorry, kiddo. Work won't let up for a while, yet. I know it's kind of a lame gift, but just...try to have a good time? Talk with your mother, spend the day...unwinding in rock pools or whatever it is you ladies do at spas."_

She sighs again and flips her phone closed.

She's in a 'relaxation pool', and she really isn't feeling it. She's tenser now than she was when she arrived, and that was pretty tense already. She could be hanging out with Vicki right now, or doing homework. Instead she's _relaxing_ before someone will walk in to file her nails and pamper her and _ugh_ , she hates it.

That's it. She's getting out. Out of the pool, out of the building. She's too bored to stay.

She steps out of the relaxation pool, wrapping a towel around her shoulders and starting to pace.

Luxury spas: not her thing.

She sends her mom a text as she's rubbing a towel through her hair.

**Mom**   
_Enjoy the spa – I almost died of boredom so I'm gonna go home._

She avoids the front desk and slips out of a side door to avoid awkward questions, pulling out her car keys and unlocking the junker she calls her car. She could've just gone with Eliza to save one of them from having to drive, but...she's enjoying the independence. It's burning a hole in her pocket just to buy enough gas for it, but getting up to speed on a good road is well worth it. It's the closest she comes to flying, these days.

She winds the window down on her drive back, letting the wind blow-dry her hair. She'll head back home, change clothes, then see if anyone's free. She's seventeen now, and she refuses to spend her birthday doing nothing. Simple. She refuses, so therefore she'll find something to do. Someone will be available. That's the power of positive thinking, girl.

She puts on her sunglasses and cranks the volume of her stereo, relaxing for the ride back home.

_ _ _

Alex picks her way through the remains of her kitchen. One step, two...and she feels something sticky on her boot. Blood. She takes a shaky breath, hands clenching, before she throws her bag down on the table. She doesn't look towards the rest of the house. She doesn't look behind her. She especially doesn't look at the floor. She just opens the cupboards, and starts piling as much food as she can into her bag. She doesn't know when they'll be able to stop for supplies.

"Kara!" she calls up the stairs. "Once you've finished with the water, grab the sleeping bags from the attic. The tent, too, if you can find it. Then take them all out to my car, and wait for me there, okay? Do _not_ come down here – use our window."

There's no reply, but a few moments Alex hears the door to the attic unlatching loudly. She lets out a sigh of relief.

She rummages through the kitchen drawers until she finds her dad's old Swiss army knife, and tosses that into her bag in amongst the food. Okay. That's enough. That's all they can take. She zips up the bag, taking a slow breath. Then, she tries to pick the bag up again.

Her knuckles scream in protest, and she lets out a pained noise as she drops the bag back down. Right. She looks at her bloodied knuckles and clenches her fist, letting the ache overtake her senses, drowning out the anxiety and the fear and the nausea. Just the ache of pain.

_ _ _

She's pulling into the driveway when she realises something isn't right.

The black sedan with government plates parked opposite the house is her first clue. The second clue is the large black van sitting in the driveway. Like a SWAT van from action movies, but without all the letters telling people what acronym they work for.

Something's very wrong.

She shuts her engine off, stepping out of the car and closing the door as quietly as she can. She slips past the van, and that's when she sees her third and final clue.

The front door's been kicked in.

She rushes forwards. She should call the police, she should hide, but all she can think is _Kara's in there_. _Save Kara_.

They're in the living room. She sees Kara, slumped on her knees, and three men in dark suits standing with strange weapons in their hands. One of them pulls out a pair of handcuffs, glowing green, when a fourth man steps into the doorway, blocking Kara from Alex's sight.

"Hey!" he yells, and she freezes, two feet away from him. "Stay where you are, girl. This is government business, it doesn't concern you."

"That's my _sister_! What the hell are you doing with her?"

Alex takes a step forwards, then another.

"Lady, I won't ask you again. Back away."

There's mumbled conversation past the doorway, past the man, when one of the men's voices abruptly rises. "Shit! She's coming around."

The next sound is the worst thing Alex has ever heard.

There's an electrical noise, a fizzling zap. And then, there's a shriek. _Kara's_ shriek.

Alex doesn't know how it happens. She just sees red, and the next thing she remembers, she's tackled the agent to the ground and she's punching him in the face, again and again.

She doesn't know how she closed the gap. How she surprised him. How her full body weight tackling his upper body was enough to drop him to the ground. She doesn't know any of that, she just knows she's full of anger and fury and _save Kara save Kara save Kara_.

After two hits there's blood on her knuckles, and she's not sure if it's hers or his.

After three hits, her knuckles start hurting, and she knows it's hers.

After four, his nose cracks, and she knows the blood isn't just hers any more.

She stops, gasping for breath, and slowly becomes aware of her surroundings. Of the three guns pointed at her head.

The more normal parts of her are terrified. Terrified to be facing down the barrels of three guns from three men in suits whose identity she might never know. Terrified that she might be killed in a home invasion at barely seventeen. Terrified of what these people want. But the loudest parts of herself, the parts Eliza bolsters and the parts Alex is proudest of, just tell her one simple fact.

They tell her that if there are three guns pointing at her head, then that means there aren't any guns pointing at Kara's head.

"Put your fucking hands up, right now!" one of them shouts, taking a step towards her.

Alex grits her teeth, and mulls over the words that will probably be her last.

"Right now! We _will_ shoot you!"

She doesn't get to say the words she's picked as her last, in the end.

One of the guns goes off.

Alex embraces her death. Watches the trigger be squeezed, the burst of fire expelled from the barrel.

But it doesn't come. Because Kara's in front of her, fist clenched just in front of her face. Gripping the bullet meant for her.

Kara rushes forwards, and she hits the man who shot at Alex. 

Just hits him. 

Just once.

There's a sickly snapping noise, a spray of blood that covers Kara's hands. The force of her strike sends him crashing into the kitchen wall, tearing it apart and scattering plaster dust in the air.

"Fuck! Target is loose!" one of the other agents says, trying to bring his gun to bear against Kara. He fires one bullet, two, three, but it doesn't do much as Kara stalks towards him. Grabs his gun. She just tries to bend the barrel, to shove him aside. But she's a sixteen year old girl running on anger and protective instinct. There's no way she can control her powers. The force of her shove slams him into the wall with far, far too much force. He leaves a long, bloody smear against the paintwork as he slumps to the ground.

The third agent draws his strange blue-glowing weapon again, hands shaking with fear. Kara's eyes light up with heat vision, aimed at the weapon, aimed to burn it out of his hands...until he fires.

There's another fizzling electrical noise, and Kara screams as she drops to her knees...heat vision already burning. Already cutting through everything in her path.

An acrid smell fills the room.

Alex doesn't have time to identify it, to realise what just happened, when the man beneath her punches her in the face with enough force to knock her to the ground.

Her ears are ringing. The room spins and blurs. She can't feel anything, let alone fight back as the agent pins her down, hands wrapping around her neck. With his broken nose he looks manic, murderous, and she realises that he looks like that because he fully intends to murder her. It's almost funny.

Her hands clutch at his wrists vainly, scratching and clawing as if that would force him to let go. He doesn't. He won't. 

He doesn't stop until a pair of bright, blue beams pierce his chest, cutting a long burning tear through it. And even then, he still grips her neck for a moment, gurgling, face contorting in pain as he seems to realise what just happened to him.

One of his arms loosens, and falls at her right side.

The rest of his body drops to her left a moment later.

She coughs for breath, gasping and wheezing and rubbing her throat. Clambers to her feet, staggering and almost tripping over the body next to her. And she looks towards Kara.

Kara, who is standing in the middle of scene of devastation, a shellshocked expression on her face.

Kara, who just killed four people.

Oh, god.

_ _ _

She hisses as she wraps bandages around her knuckles, packing the rest of the first aid kit up and shoving it into the side pocket of her bag.

Her hands won't stop shaking. She punches the table with her uninjured hand a couple of times. 

"Stupid, stupid, _stupid_. Get ahold of yourself, Alex."

Okay. Okay.

Food. Water. Clothes. Camping supplies. Knife.

Money.

She walks upstairs mechanically, ignoring the bloodstained footprints she leaves with every step she takes. Grabs the money she'd been saving up for a new computer from her bottom drawer, and shoves it into her wallet. On any other day, she'd feel good about having so many notes in her wallet. But not today.

She looks towards her parents' room, taking a slow breath before she steps in there. Searches through their cupboard until she finds what she's been looking for. The firebox. She finds the key in her dad's sock drawer and unlocks it. Ignores her passport and Kara's fake documentation. Ignores the CDs of research notes and backups of her parents' work. She just grabs the roll of notes hiding at the bottom of the box.

She takes a breath. Five hundred and eighty two dollars, all in all. Okay.

Okay.

She carries the roll of money back downstairs, slipping it into her bag before hesitating. Looks at the floor, at the blood pooling there.

She takes a breath, preparing herself, and steps into the living room again. It doesn't get any better her second time seeing it. She steps towards the body of the man who'd tried to choke her, and winces as she reaches into his jacket pocket. Finds his gun, and a spare magazine, and pulls them free. She holds them both, heavy in her hands. Too large for a seventeen year old girl to have. _Just in case,_ she tells herself, and doesn't dare to ask _in case of what_.

She adds the gun to her bag and pulls it over her shoulder. Steps out of the ruined doorway. Looks at her house for probably the last time.

Kara's sitting in the passenger seat of the car, bags strewn in the back seat. She's staring into space blankly, absently.

Alex takes a slow breath, opening the door and throwing her back into the back with the rest of them. Then she pulls out her phone, flipping it open.

**Mom**   
_They came for her. Don't come home. I'll keep her safe.  
I love you._

She places her phone, still open, just behind the front wheel of her car.

She gets in, and starts the engine.

"Nothing's ever going to be the same, is it?" Kara asks, in the most fragile voice, and Alex's heart breaks a little more for her.

She looks towards Kara, and smiles as softly and supportively as she can.

"Yeah, it will," she answers, and tries to make herself sound like she believes it as she reverses over her phone, hearing it snap and shatter beneath the weight of her tires. "Because no matter what happens, I'll be with you."

"Always."

_ _ _

Director Hank Henshaw sighs, crouching next to the upper body of Agent Linehan to examine his wounds.

"What the hell went wrong here?" He asks the man standing next to him.

"We think the daughter came home earlier than expected, sir. There's the remains of a phone outside, bloody bootprints through most of the house, and Agent Harrison had his nose broken, probably by someone of human strength, rather than an extraterrestrial. We also retrieved CCTV footage of her leaving town with a blonde girl in her car, heading west." Agent Ables lists in response.

Hank nods as he climbs back to his feet. He's pieced most of that together already, but the car is useful to know. She's travelling on foot, not flying straight to Cousin Dearest for help. "Call in all resources. Deploy Trap One and Raptor One in California, and get our analysts searching all available data streams for any trace of Alexandra and Kara Danvers."

Ables visibly hesitates. "Sir, Raptor One is still hunting down the Martian in South America."

"The Martian didn't kill _four of my best men_ , Agent," Henshaw responds harshly, stepping towards the man and hearing a bullet casing skitter away from his boot. "I want _every_ available resource tracking down this threat."

He turns to walk away. Stops in the remains of the doorway. "And find me the mother. I want to ask her a few questions."


	2. Oh

They drive for hours. Until the sun sets, and until Alex's adrenaline-drained limbs start to ache from holding the wheel.

They're silent for most of the trip, Alex's radio playing her CDs far quieter than she'd normally like. But it fills the dead air, and gives them both something to focus on that isn't _this_.

By the time Alex pulls into the parking lot of a skeevy-looking motel, Kara has fallen asleep. Small mercies. She supposes heat vision must take a lot out of her, and she hadn't eaten any of the food Alex had packed. She must be even more exhausted than Alex feels.

Alex reaches out, fingertips just barely brushing Kara's shoulder. That's all it takes for Kara to wake up, jerking away from the touch like she's been burned.

"Hey. Hey, it's just me," Alex soothes, and Kara slowly seems to refocus and realise where she is. "We're at a motel. I'm gonna get us a room, okay?"

Kara nods, shakily, and Alex does her best to smile supportively before she gets out of the car, stretching as she walks towards the reception.

The man at the desk glances up when she walks in, then does a double-take.

"Hey, uh. Can I get a room for two, for the night?"

The man looks at her more deeply than she'd like. "Double or twin?"

"Whatever's cheaper," Alex responds, feeling the tiredness seeping through her bones.

"They're uh, normally the same price, but." He looks at her with concern. "I can get you the twin for 60 bucks. Are, uh. Are you alright, girl?"

She blinks in confusion. "Yeah. I'm fine."

He nods, writing something down quickly on a piece of paper. "Okay, just, uh, sign here."

He flips it around to face her. _Are you here against your will?_ it asks, in big, bold letters.

Her confusion grows. "No, I'm. I'm here with my sister, we just need a place for the night, okay?" She signs with a rough scrawl (hoping it's too rough to be legible), then pulls out her wallet, counting out notes to hand over to him.

"If you're sure, girl." He takes the notes from her, handing over a key. He doesn't look happy about it.

_ _ _

The room's not as awful as Alex expected, all told. She and Kara drop their bags just inside the door, and Alex latches and bolts it behind her.

Kara walks through the room and wordlessly turns the old CRT TV on, filling the room with the high-pitched static noise that accompanies them.

"I'm uh. I'm going to have a quick shower, okay? Pick whichever bed feels nicer to you. I'll be back soon."

Kara nods, and Alex rifles through Kara's bag until she finds the toothbrushes and toothpaste, dropping them on the sink as she starts peeling her clothes off for a shower.

She's halfway undressed when she catches sight of herself in the mirror and freezes.

She just stares at herself.

She's got a black eye, already darkening across her eye socket and on to her cheek. But that part feels irrelevant and unnoticeable next to the deep, dark bruising around her neck. A man's hand, wrapped tight around her throat.

Oh.

No wonder the guy at the front desk had thought she'd been kidnapped.

She stares at herself in the mirror, hands shaking as she moves to grip the edges of the sink. Her knuckles ache. Her jaw clenches; she swallows hard and watches the way the bruised skin of her neck moves.

God, no wonder Kara had pulled away from her earlier. No wonder she'd looked at her like a monster. Every time she looked at Alex, she must be reminded of what she did. Of everyone she—

Alex's stomach lurches and she staggers the two steps over to the toilet, doubling over and retching as her already-empty stomach protests against itself.

She and Kara are killers now.

She watched a man die above her.

A man who almost choked her to death.

She grips the edge of the bowl, tears streaming down her face as she gags, her oesophagus lurching again and again. Every movement reminds her of the bruised tenderness of her neck, which just makes things worse.

She becomes slowly aware of the situation she's in. She's collapsed on a grimy motel floor, half-naked, chin resting against porcelain. Happy fucking birthday to her.

That thought makes her laugh, hysterically. Giggling and hiccoughing until it makes her stomach lurch again.

She might be having a breakdown.

She's not sure of the symptoms of a breakdown, but laughing while throwing up after watching a man be killed seems like a pretty good indication that she's having a breakdown.

Finally, finally, she stops. 

Stops laughing. Stops retching. Stops crying. And, eventually, she staggers her way back to her feet, swaying and gripping the cistern to keep herself upright.

Feeling sorry for herself won't keep Kara safe. Won't keep either of them safe.

She steps back to the sink, ignoring her reflection in the mirror and instead brushing her teeth clean of the foul taste in her mouth.

She can do this. Take it one step at a time. They made it to a motel. They're away from the initial threat. Now, they just need to come up with a plan tomorrow. Talk about things, work out where they're going. To her dad, maybe, or to Clark.

She runs her tongue along her teeth, tasting mint.

Clark. Would he help? Would he moralise at them and tell them they need to hand themselves in to the police? Would he abandon Kara all over again?

She doesn't know. She likes to think he'd help. Take them to the Fortress, or somewhere safe. Protect his blood family.

She puts the toothbrush down, starting the shower and undressing while she waits for it to heat up. She steps into the too-hot water, feeling it sear her skin the way she likes. The way that borders on painful.

Metropolis, then?

Getting from the West Coast all the way to the East won't be the easiest with her junker. If Kara flew them there, they could be there in a few hours, but flying...Alex winces. Flying was what put them on the government's radar to begin with. They might just paint a target on their backs like that.

And that's even assuming Kara would be willing to use her powers, after...after everything.

Alex lets her head drop against the tile wall, screwing her eyes closed and trying to drown out her thoughts. Just for a few minutes. She just needs a few minutes, to rest.

_ _ _

When she steps out of the restroom, stripped down to her t-shirt and underwear, Kara's sitting cross-legged on one of the beds, watching a news report and looking entirely enraptured by it.

She doesn't mention the fact that Alex's _quick shower_ had turned into a 20-minute crying jag followed by a 15-minute shower. She doesn't even look over. Alex rubs her neck self-consciously.

"Hey, uh. The restroom's free, if you wanna brush your teeth, or shower or whatever."

Kara still doesn't look over.

"—Alex and Kara Danvers. The two are considered armed and extremely dangerous. If you have any information about them, please call the police immediately. Do not attempt to approach them. Again, they are considered armed and dangerous, do _not_ attempt—"

Oh.

Fuck.

Alex feels the edges of her breakdown creeping back into her mind, fists clenching at her sides. They're wanted criminals.

She'd known, logically, that it would've happened. That after what they did, they'd have people coming after them. But hearing that police report...it makes it all horrifyingly real.

"I'm sorry," Kara says, and it's so quiet it takes Alex a moment to realise it came from her instead of the news report. "This is all my fault."

Alex feels sudden clarity. Her breakdown, panic attack, whatever it is, falls away. For the second time in the day, she focuses on one thing and one thing alone. "Kara, no." _Look after your sister, Alexandra_ , she hears Eliza saying in the back of her mind. "You saved me. You are _not_ at fault here. The only people at fault are the assholes who tried to _kidnap you_!" She steps towards Kara to try and hug her – only for her to superspeed away to a corner, far from Alex's touch.

"Don't." Her arms cross over herself. "I'm. I'm violent. I'm _dangerous_. Please, don't try to touch me. I don't wanna hurt you too."

Alex stops short.

Swallows.

Looks at her sister. The way her shoulders are drawn in, the way her hands grip her arms, nails digging into her own forearms as if she doesn't trust them to grab anything else.

She's terrified.

"...I promised Clark that I'd protect you, y'know?" Alex starts, softly. "He called me, a while after he dropped you off, to talk to me. To see how I was doing with everything. He said it wasn't easy for him growing up and learning to control his powers – that he messed up sometimes, broke things. That he was worried about how I'd handle it. Do you wanna know what I told him?"

Kara stares at her, still keeping her distance, but nods slowly.

"I told him that everyone messes up, that being a teenager is rough for everyone. I told him that you were my sister, and that I trusted you not to hurt me. And in the time since that call, you have done _nothing_ to make me doubt that trust. Kara..." Alex struggles for words for a moment as she steps closer. Kara doesn't superspeed away this time. "You protected me today. You always protect me. Now please...let me protect you?"

"I'm a superpowered alien from a dead world. I don't need—"

Alex steps forwards and wraps her arms around Kara's shoulders.

Kara falls silent, freezing up. She's been getting taller recently – Alex has to stretch a little to be able to wrap her arms around her the way she always likes to.

But she doesn't run. She lets Alex hug her, as awkward as it is with her arms crossed in front of her and Alex stretching to wrap around her.

"I'm here for you, Kar. I'm not going anywhere. And I love you."

Kara takes a deep, shuddering breath. She presses her nose against Alex's collarbone.

And she sobs.

She sobs, and cries, and lets herself be held tight by Alex.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

_ _ _

Alex looks over at the bed next to her. Kara is curled up in the covers; finally, mercifully, asleep.

She'd cried, for a while, and Alex had comforted her as best as she could.

Changing the TV channel had mainly been to get them off rolling news which kept mentioning their names and making both of them flinch. But they'd wound up finding an old, shitty romantic comedy to watch. The acting was wooden and the main actors had a total lack of chemistry, but it was mindless enough for the two of them to start to relax. By the end of the night, Kara had giggled against Alex's chest during the final heartfelt speech, both curled in Alex's single bed as she murmured cheesy quotes in her silliest voices.

Laughter was a dramatic improvement from earlier.

And now, they're each in their own beds, and Alex can't stop staring.

Kara's hands grip themselves tighter as she shifts in her sleep, a tiny whimper escaping her lips. The usual nightmares, or a new one? Alex stretches out a hand, ready to shake Kara awake, but after a moment she quiets down. 

She falls silent once more, but Alex's thoughts don't. They're wanted criminals now. Fugitives. They've probably put an APB out on her car already. How the hell is she going to keep Kara safe?

Alex sighs and settles in for a long, sleepless night.


End file.
